Tour the Silicon Valley facility of the pioneer in system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions. This is the first tour of a Silicon Valley chip manufacturer ever offered by AES. You will learn about the technologies and tools that allow designers to exploit the huge cost/performance potential of FPGAs in audio systems. Specifically you will learn about high performance data path creation for video and image processing systems and the application of DSP co-processing and FPGA soft cores for audio system development. Additionally, there will be a product demonstration of these system benefits by an Altera customer.

Price: $40 for members and $50 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Thursday, October 5, 1:00 pm — 4:00 pm

TT3 -DOLBY LABORATORIES

Visit legendary Dolby Laboratories’ headquarters while you are in San Francisco. Dolby, known for its more than 40 years of audio innovation and leadership, will showcase its latest technologies (audio and video) for high-definition packaged disc media and digital cinema. Demonstrations will take place in Dolby’s state-of-the-art listening rooms, including an introduction of Dolby TrueHD, the latest in lossless audio technology, which offers up to 7.1 discrete channels for today’s optical media and is part of both the HD DVD and Blu-ray formats. This demonstration will feature Dolby TrueHD at its full 13.1-channel surround sound capability. Dolby Digital Cinema will be demonstrated in Dolby’s world-class screening room theater. Digital cinema is transforming the way movies are presented in today’s theaters, and over 160 Dolby Digital Cinema systems are already installed across the world today. The presentation will include an update on the state of digital cinema and the technical standards, and on overview of the preparation and playback of digital movies.
Note: this event has already sold out.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Thursday, October 5, 1:30 pm — 5:30 pm

TT4 -FANTASY STUDIOS/EX'PRESSION COLLEGE OF DIGITAL ARTS

Visit the legendary Fantasy Studios, one of the Bay Area’s largest recording and postproduction facilities and the site where many famous artists have recorded classic albums. The tour will encompass the recording studio complex.

Ex’pression College for Digital Arts offers Bachelor’s degrees in three programs: Sound Arts, Animation and Visual Effects, and Motion Graphic Design. Sound Arts includes analog and digital recording and engineering, game audio, sound reinforcement, DVD authoring, audio postproduction. The programs are intensive allowing students to graduate in about 2 ½ years. Classes are small and the facility is home to 85,000 square feet of professional grade equipment.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Friday, October 6, 9:00 am — 1:00 pm

TT1 -MEYER SOUND LABORATORIES

Visit Meyer Sound Laboratories and see the premier manufacturer of self-powered professional loudspeakers for sound reinforcement. The company is unusual in that it manufactures all of its products, including fabricating drivers, at its Berkeley, California, factory with extreme attention to detail and precision and extensive testing.

(Execution of a Non Disclosure Agreement is required for this tour.)

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Friday, October 6, 9:00 am — 11:00 am

TT5 -CURRENT TV

Visit Current TV and see the people and technology behind the first national network created by, for, and with an 18- to 34-year-old audience, offering 24 hours of independent programming. The award-winning TV network adopts what has made the Internet the medium of choice for young adults—customizable content and consumer participation. It offers unique short-format content created in the voice of its viewers and uniquely tailored to their interests: everything from technology, fashion, music, and video games, to the environment, relationships, spirituality, politics, finance, and parenting—subjects that young adults can rarely find on TV. Current also enlists its viewers to become creative partners, providing an open forum to submit viewer-produced content, making it the first television network whose programming is supplied in part by the very audience who watches it.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Friday, October 6, 12:30 pm — 3:30 pm

TT6 -PAUL STUBBLEBINE MASTERING

Paul Stubblebine Mastering & DVD (PSM) houses San Francisco’s only dedicated stereo and surround mastering facility. Both mastering labs were built from the ground up to meet today’s multi-format surround mastering needs. PSM acoustics were designed by Bob Hodas Acoustic Analysis and feature Magico speakers, Pacific Microsonics converters, and a host of hand selected equipment gathered during Paul Stubblebine's 30-year career in recording and mastering in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mastering engineer Michael Romanowski runs PSM's second room and has his own specialized equipment for mastering. Visit the studio and get a chance to hear stereo and surround music as few have had the chance to. Renowned studio acoustician Bob Hodas will be on hand to discuss listening room acoustics, and the solutions he devised for the particular challenges of these two rooms. PSM shares space with Coast Recorders, the only remaining Bill Putnam-designed studio in San Francisco. Attendees who are interested can get a peek into a real old-school recording studio.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Friday, October 6, 1:30 pm — 4:30 pm

TT7 -LOUISE M. DAVIES SYMPHONY HALL

Visit the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, home of the San Francisco Symphony. This is the world-class concert hall component of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center. It was built in 1980 to give the San Francisco Symphony a permanent home and was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Pietro Belluschi, along with acoustical consultants Bolt, Beranek and Newman. Its modern design is visually elegant both inside and out. Acoustical renovations under the direction of Kirkegaard Associates were completed in 1992, resulting in substantial improvements not only to the acoustics but also to hall’s beauty. This tour will demonstrate and discuss the technical aspects of the hall’s acoustical design.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Saturday, October 7, 9:00 am — 11:00 am

TT8 -INDUSTRIAL LIGHT AND MAGIC

Visit the 23-acre Letterman Digital Arts Center is the new San Francisco home of Lucasfilm Ltd., bringing together Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts and Lucasfilm's corporate activities for the first time in the company's 30-year history. In over 30 years of providing post-production visual effects services to the entertainment industry, Industrial Light & Magic has been associated with fourteen movies which have earned the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and has been awarded seventeen technical achievement awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. LucasArts is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game console systems, computers and the Internet.
Note: this event has already sold out.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Saturday, October 7, 10:00 am — 12:00 pm

TT9 -PYRAMIND

Visit Pyramind - The Institute for Advanced Digital Audio Training. This facility is a state of the art media and music production facility and school offering hands on training in today's recording studio environment. Driven by a philosophy of creativity meeting technology, students get hands-on training interacting with industry professionals in both the recording studio and classroom. Through Pyramind Digital Producer’s Certificate Program students learn the most up to date software, hardware, and creative skills and techniques for both media and music production. Pyramind is a Digidesign and Apple Certified Training Location. It is also the home of Outpost Studios, San Francisco's largest Dolby certified surround mix room also offering Foley pits and ADR services.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Saturday, October 7, 11:00 am — 1:00 pm

TT10 -INDUSTRIAL LIGHT AND MAGIC

Visit the 23-acre Letterman Digital Arts Center is the new San Francisco home of Lucasfilm Ltd., bringing together Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts and Lucasfilm's corporate activities for the first time in the company's 30-year history. In over 30 years of providing post-production visual effects services to the entertainment industry, Industrial Light & Magic has been associated with fourteen movies which have earned the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and has been awarded seventeen technical achievement awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. LucasArts is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game console systems, computers and the Internet.
Note: this event has already sold out.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Saturday, October 7, 1:00 pm — 4:00 pm

TT11 -PLANT STUDIOS

Visit the legendary Plant Studios, which has been a professional recording studio since its opening as the Record Plant, Sausalito in October of 1972. Sly Stone, Rick James, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Santana, Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica, Deftones, Mudvayne, Kronos, and Dave Matthews are just a sampling of the artists who have written and recorded award-winning American music at this facility. For tracking and mixing, clients can choose from Studio A's 30 foot ceiling and SSL 9000J or Studio B's Neve 8068. Plant Mastering, headed by John Cuniberti, offers the final touch. With the addition of a new Digidesign ICON in the surround studio, "The Garden," The Plant has expanded into film and video with John Neff, film sound mixer, as head of Plant Post. Boasting an enviable collection of vintage and digital gear, The Plant is a complete state of the art audio production facility for music, film, and video.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Saturday, October 7, 1:30 pm — 3:30 pm

TT12 -INDUSTRIAL LIGHT AND MAGIC

Visit the 23-acre Letterman Digital Arts Center is the new San Francisco home of Lucasfilm Ltd., bringing together Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts and Lucasfilm's corporate activities for the first time in the company's 30-year history. In over 30 years of providing post-production visual effects services to the entertainment industry, Industrial Light & Magic has been associated with fourteen movies which have earned the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and has been awarded seventeen technical achievement awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. LucasArts is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game console systems, computers and the Internet.
Note: this event has already sold out.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Saturday, October 7, 3:30 pm — 5:30 pm

TT13 -INDUSTRIAL LIGHT AND MAGIC

Visit the 23-acre Letterman Digital Arts Center is the new San Francisco home of Lucasfilm Ltd., bringing together Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts and Lucasfilm's corporate activities for the first time in the company's 30-year history. In over 30 years of providing post-production visual effects services to the entertainment industry, Industrial Light & Magic has been associated with fourteen movies which have earned the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and has been awarded seventeen technical achievement awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. LucasArts is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game console systems, computers and the Internet.
Note: this event has already sold out.

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Sunday, October 8, 9:00 am — 1:00 pm

TT14 -CENTER FOR COMPUTER RESEARCH IN MUSIC AND ACOUSTICS (CCRMA)

Visit Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). Over its 30 year history, CCRMA has played a major role in the development of FM synthesis, physical modeling, and computer music composition. The Knoll, CCRMA's newly renovated home, was originally built as the Stanford Presidents' home. The Music Department occupied the building beginning in 1946 and CCRMA moved the historical facilities in 1986. The Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989 damaged much of the building, leaving the third floor unsafe for occupants. Last August CCRMA moved back into the restored building after a year of construction. The new facility includes a recording studio, three project studios, a performance space, teaching facilities, a cutting-edge listening room, and 40 networked Linux stations.

Price: $40 for members and $50 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.

Sunday, October 8, 12:30 pm — 3:00 pm

TT15 -TALKING HOUSE PRODUCTIONS

Visit San Francisco's newest major studio complex, Talking House Productions. The new facility designed by John Storyk, WSDG furnishes the company's in-house producers, composers, artists, film and commercial partners with one of the world's finest recording environments. There are three state-of-the-art multitracking and mixing rooms with two Digidesign ICONs and one massive 80-channel SSL 9000XL mix console with Ultimation. The facility also includes five integrated isolation booths, and one of San Francisco's most versatile large live tracking rooms, plus The Gallery for "live" live recording. In addition, ProTools and classic analog 2" tape, Stereo and 5.1 Surround monitoring, Video link for scoring to picture, sound design and a full complement of vintage and modern instruments and gear are available

Price: $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers.

Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.